In a development that has set tongues wagging across the country's sporting corridors, the Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) finds itself at the centre of a storm just days before its Executive Committee Election 2025, slated for 30 November.
A letter issued on 25 November by Mohammad Aminul Ehsan, Director (Sports) of the National Sports Council (NSC), has formally alerted the BOA Election Commission to a potential conflict of interest involving two key contenders, Major (Retd.) Imroz Ahmed, candidate for Vice-President (serial no. 5), and Md. Zobaidur Rahman, lone nominee for the post of Secretary General.
The letter, bearing memo number 34.03.0000.000.004.55.0004.23.948, draws attention to the duo's previous roles in the five-member Search Committee formed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports on 1 October 2024. Zobaidur Rahman served as Convenor of the committee, while Major (Retd.) Imroz Ahmed was a member. This committee recommended the formation of ad-hoc bodies in 49 national sports federations, several of whom now contribute delegates to the BOA's current voter list. Among these are 25 federations whose ad-hoc committees collectively represent 50 council members, in addition to delegates from the Women's Sports Association and three separate federations, totalling 55 councillors.
The NSC's letter notes that the prior involvement of both candidates in forming the very bodies now taking part in the election "opens the door" to a conflict of interest, a concern widely discussed long before the election schedule was announced.
What has raised eyebrows, however, is the timing. The issue was never a mystery as it was common knowledge in sports circles since last year. Yet the NSC chose to formally communicate these concerns only five days before voting, a move that many see as coming a day late and a dollar short.
Stakeholders are now asking the inevitable question: did the authority simply attempt to wash its hands of responsibility by issuing this last-minute cautionary note, ensuring that the blame, should controversy unfold, does not fall at its doorstep? Or is the timing a calculated attempt to tilt the playing field, subtly shifting winds just before the ballots are cast?
For now, the sporting fraternity waits with bated breath. With the election knocking at the door and speculation swirling like monsoon clouds, the BOA poll, usually a procedural affair, has suddenly taken on the air of a high-stakes contest.
